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OPINION 2
CAMPUS 3-6
ABE 7-9
SLIPSTICK 10
SPORTS ll

Kori Downs
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Every fall, to kick off the new school
year, the Oflice of Campus Life (OCL) orga-
nizes Welcome Week, a week of fun events that
help new students get a taste of what Illinois
Tech has to offer and helps returning students
rejoin the [IT community.

This year’s upcoming Welcome Week
schedule was recently announced, including a
whopping total of more than 30 events in the
span of just a few days. Events this year include
new events, such as a resident advisor vs. ori-
entation leader soccer match and a pep rally to
pump up some scarlet hawk pride, as well as
some favorite events from previous years, such
as Fresh in the CIITy, a city-wide scavenger
hunt, and Playfair, a collection of icebreaker
games played at a huge scale.

Ryan Miller, Associate Vice Provost
for Campus Life, had a few thoughts to share
regarding this year’s Welcome Week. “The goal

 

Student newspaper of the Illinois Institute of Technology since 1928

Office of Campus Life prepares 2014
Welcome Week

of Welcome Week is just what it sounds like.
We know that coming back to classes isn't al-
ways the most fun thing in the world, but our
goal is just to make everyone feel welcome at
IIT,” said Miller. “We hope that by providing
a few fun activities mixed in with some offi—
cial ones, we can get everyone acclimated to
campus and making a friend or two before the
grind of class starts up.”

The theme of this year’s Welcome
Week has been announced as #TeamTalon,
alluding to Illinois Institute of Technology’s
athletic mascot, the IIT Scarlet Hawk named
Talon. Miller says this theme aims to bring
awareness to and reinforce the important role
of school spirit in our campus community.
Miller also says he hopes to see more people
engaged with IIT and Campus Life through
social media. “We are hoping to have students
develop more pride for IIT, especially sur-
rounding our athletics,” he said.

Even more than with years past, this
year’s Welcome Week events aim to kickstart

the formation of the IIT community that we
all love. All students who participate will have
the chance to make some great friends, learn
something new, and maybe step a bit outside
of their comfort zone.

When asked what part of Welcome
Week he is looking forward to most, Miller
said, “My favorite day of Welcome Week is Fri-
day. We start off with the academic breakfasts
where people get a chance to meet specific fac—
ulty members. We then go into Convocation
where everyone gets the official welcome from
the president and provost. My favorite activity
of the day is the student involvement fair im-
mediately after Convocation. That’s when we
get to see all of the student organizations shine
and show all of the new students why they
should join.”

After Welcome Week concludes and
classes begin, be sure to expect a variety of fun
things happening on campus, many of which
are thanks to the efforts of OCL stafi'.

Stuart students apply business and
finance skills in industry competitions

Kayla Ponillo
TECHNEWS WRITER

Each year, students from IIT Stuart
School of Business enter a variety of industry
competitions, applying the skills they learn
in the classroom to real-world business
situations. Here are just a few highlights from
the 2013-2014 academic year.

A team of IIT Stuart students placed
first in the Chicago local-level competition
of the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute
Research Challenge in February 2014,
besting teams from seven Chicago-area
finance programs. At the Chicago-area final,
competitors presented their equity valuation
research to top executives at the featured
company, Littelfuse, Inc., which is based in
Chicago.

This year, over 385 teams from
around the globe participated in the 2014
CME Group Trading Challenge, and a
team from IIT Stuart finished in the top 10
percent of all competitors, advancing to the
championship round. Student teams used a
simulated trading environment to trade CME

wringing:

 

Group products over the four-week electronic
trading competition.

In addition, three M.S. Finance
students from IIT Stuart School of Business
were recognized as top performers in the
2013-2014 All-America Student Analyst
Competition, sponsored by Institutional
Investor magazine. One student was
recognized as a top performer in the sector
performance competition, ranking both 3rd
in the Energy sector and 5th in the Capital
Goods/Industrials sector. Another student
ranked 18th in the long alpha ranking and
78th overall of the top 100. The third student
finished 24th out of the top 100. More than
2,100 students from 82 schools participated.
Illinois Institute of Technology was also
recognized as one of only 30 schools with
more than one student in the top 100.

IIT Stuart undergraduate students
also can put their investing skills to the test
in the student-run Undergraduate Business
Council Online Investment Competition.
The month-long stock trading challenge was
designed to help undergraduates apply their
financial expertise in a simulated, student-
run competition. More than 20 students

entered, and three sophomores took home
first, second, and third place prizes.

Students are also rewarded for their
efforts. In a joint initiative with Chicago
Innovation Awards, more than 100 IIT
Stuart students entered to win $10,000
in scholarship prizes for their innovative
business ideas. Top winners were enrolled in
IIT Stuart’s dual—degree M.B.A. and Master
of Design program, with additional prize
winners representing the M.B.A. and M.S.
Marketing Analytics and Communication
programs. “When my team won the Rotman
Design Challenge last year, I started thinking
that the combination of the Institute of Design
program and Stuart M.B.A. is more powerful
than I thought.” commented Thomas Gaskin,
part of the team that took home the Gold
prize. “This win reinforces the impact of
design strategy and business.” The awards
event also featured a panel of entrepreneurs
and innovators, including several former
winners of the Chicago Innovation Awards
annual business competition.

To read more about Stuart students
and hear about upcoming competition
opportunities, visit stuart.iit.edu.

 

Photos courtesy of Kayla Portillo